Hello all. I received 39/40 for this Views and Values essay, but I feel like it doesn't warrant that mark. It seems that my teacher marks quite leniently, and I would like to get some honest feedback to prepare myself for the exam. I'm looking more for general feedback, so having read the novel isn't imperative. Thank you.
In a coherently structured essay, discuss the views and values endorsed, challenged and left unchallenged in The Dressmaker. Explore the context of the times, the way it influences the views and values, and the different ways in which people may interpret the themes.
The ostensibly peaceful decade of the 1950s is often looked back on as the halcyon days of morality and the nuclear family. Under the calm, country-town veneer of Dungatar, Victoria, Rosalie Ham explores its inhabitants' needs and desires, base and noble. Her novel, The Dressmaker, follows the lives of universally recognisable characters. The conflicts, inner and outer, of desires give way to a largely pessimistic authorial view of the 1950s, with spots of love and beauty interspersed.
The over-arching but underlying motivation in the novel is the lust and denial of freedom. Every resident, with the notable exception of the McSwineys, has something they wish to hide. Nancy and Ruth's relationship exemplifies the difference between current times and then. Now, they would have nothing to hide. In the conservative 1950s, they are forced to conceal the relationship. This sentiment pervades the dusty, rural atmosphere of Dungatar. As Molly observes: "Everybody knows everything about everyone, but no-one ever tittle-tattles because then someone else'll tell on them." This notion is everywhere in Dungatar. The characters lust after their freedom, but are unable to see that by accepting others, they themselves would be accepted.
The townspeople's hypocrisy is exemplified by Ruth's actions. Her aforementioned relationship is kept a secret, out of need not want. She longs to not have to skulk around, getting rid of her girlfriend when Beula Harridene knocks. Yet she cannot afford Tilly the same privacy. Her blatant disregard of Tilly by opening her mail is another example of the residents' weaknesses. Tilly, by contrast, gives others the same respect she expects. When made aware of Irma's condition, she uses this knowledge only to help by cooking a batch of special brownies to alleviate the pain. Ham approbates this selflessness, and, by way of Beula, castigates the opposite. Beula defines her life by the lives of others. Their missteps and mistakes are her driving force. Ultimately, this leads to her ironic downfall, as she is nearly killed by Tilly's radiogramme as she snoops around. This association of negative consequence with negative action expresses Ham's contempt for those who do not respect privacy, and, in extension, fail to live their own life.
Expanding on this notion is the out-dated custom of marrying 'to save face'. In the 1950s it was common to marry after engaging in pre-marital sex. This giving-in to societal pressure is heavily critiqued in The Dressmaker. A picture of its effects is made by juxtaposing William and Gertrude with Tilly. Tilly is unmarried, despite having had a son. After the death of her boy, she remains a creative, independent woman. William is "very worldly these days", according to his mother. However, rather than having to "look much further than [Dungatar] to find suitable companionship", he succumbs and marries the first girl with whom he has a fleeting relationship. Ham continues the technique of associating negative things with negative outcomes. From the moment he marries Gertrude his agricultural aspirations are dashed. Instead of a new tractor, his money is spent on hats and dresses. By defining his life by the opinions of others, he suffers an ignominious future.
Tilly ultimately chooses the opposite path; the path of freedom rather than acceptance. Tilly desires to be free, free to wear what she wants, free to associate with whomever she wants and free to have sex when, and with whom, she wants. However, she is not without reservations. She longs to be accepted by the very same people she wants to be free from. When Teddy suggests that the town will have to get used to her, her response: "No... I'll just have to get used to them" elucidates her inner turmoil. Acceptance and freedom are portrayed as two parallel paths, never intersecting. One must choose, and the majority of Dungatarians choose that of acceptance. This choice is portrayed as homogenising, while freedom is a long, lonely journey. William has no future, but Tilly has torched her past.
The concept of marriage is explored extensively, but Ham does not offer a solution to the state of affairs in Dungatar. If one does choose, or is pressured, to marry, the life that results is not depicted favourably. Tilly's decision to stay a free woman is shown in a better light, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that she ends up alone, with her mother, son and future husband dead. She does have her freedom and independence left. This is Ham's take on the consequences of disobeying society in the 1950s. Her freedom comes at great personal cost. Ham laments the lack of liberty for woman in that period but does not present a triumph, however idealistic and anachronistic it would be. Reality triumphs in the end, proving that Ham's view of the reality of the 50s is harshly critical.
Compared to the horrors of World War Two, the 1950s were a time of remarkable peace, especially for Australia. However the threat of communism was ever-present, and in 1951 conscription was reinstated. These issues are notably absent from The Dressmaker, with the only political reference being "a punctured picture of Bob Menzies on the dartboard". This opposition to him is odd, considering that his socially conservative politics were in line with Dunagatar's residents' attitudes. Menzies advocated a return to traditional gender roles after the tumultuous war years, as well as increasing the role of the Church in Australians' lives. Dungatar largely abides by Christian values such as celibacy before marriage. However, the town has no minister to preach these values, instead the townspeople take their idea of morality into their own hands. Beula does this by gossiping, Mr Almanac by spiking the ointments of those he deems "sinners". This is similar to William's way of living by the views of others but the inverse. Ham castigates those who try to impose their views on others just as much as those who accept them. The result is a strongly libertarian outlook; live and let live.
Ham promotes the idea of pure, uninfluenced, true love. Neither Lesley and Mona nor William And Gertrude share this, as their partnerships are the result of succumbing to pressure. Tilly and Teddy though, do share real love. Rather than living together, hating the sight of each other like William and Gertrude, they have something special. They were "twinned beneath the close stars", they "made love over and over again and were made one in their intentions". Ham shows the power of love to create happiness, and the effects a lack of love has.
These universal themes are identifiable world-wide. In addition, Ham creates characters who have a simple trait which they exploit throughout the novel. This means that an understanding of the Australiana in the novel is not imperative for an understanding of its central tenets. A reader in Brazil who has never heard of Australian Rules Football will gain just as much of an insight into the human condition as an Australian.
Throughout The Dressmaker, Rosalie Ham explores the complexities of freedom in a pre-feminist revolution society. The established trends of the time that were later largely removed are critiqued for their hypocrisy and stifling of liberty and independence. Love; mother-daughter, mother-son and romantic is extolled as much as the lack of love in a marriage is lamented and attacked. The result is a uniquely human text, which is not limited by the culture in which it takes place and critiques.
1227 words.
Home
Help
Search
Login
